London Remade is a partnership comprising of the business community, London Boroughs and regional government, the waste industry and the not for profit sector. As one of the United Kingdom’s largest recycled market development programmes, London Remade is involved in projects covering the recycling loop:
As an organisation we understand that it is not easy to source cost effective products in suitable quantities to meet the strict specifications required. We want to help organisations overcome these issues and have set up an accredited training course with the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and the Environment Agency.
The Mayor’s Code currently has 260 signatories including multinational companies, small and medium enterprises and both public and private sector organisations engaged with buying recycled products and developing environmental policies.
It is already making a substantial contribution to raising the profile of recycled content products and assisting suppliers to expand existing or find new markets for their products.
In recent research undertaken for London Remade by Wastebusters, over £11.8 million of a wide range of products was procured by Code signatories in a twelve month period, ranging from recycled print cartridges to recycled construction and garden materials. Through the procurement of recycled paper alone, over 10,000 tonnes of waste paper has been diverted from landfill.
The Metropolitan Police emerged as the Capital’s greenest purchasers; with an annual spend of over £1 million on recycled content products. The organisation made savings of £224,000 worth of electricity, enough trees to supply oxygen to nearly 50,000 Londoners, enough oil to make tyres for over 3,000 cars and roughly the amount of water consumed in one day by people in 3 London Boroughs.
London Remade has already identified over 100 locally manufactured products made from recycled materials ranging from recycled stationery such as pencils made from recycled vending cups and mouse mats made from tyres, to loft insulation made from newspapers, paving materials made from recycled glass and decorative tiles which are all being promoted to buyers through the Code.
The London Borough of Wandsworth has demonstrated that simple measures can make a great impact and has bought 100% recycled plastic bags to distribute to residents for the collection of its household recyclable waste. The challenge remains however to overcome myths about recycled product quality and dispel the perception that only recycled stationary products are available.
Following the early success of the Mayo’s Green Procurement Code in the capital, a number of other regions around the UK have already opened discussions with London Remade on developing Green Procurement Codes for their area.
From the outset, we have sought to view recycling as a commercial as well as an environmental objective. We are interested in developing new markets for viable products made from recycled materials and generating the consequent procurement and employment opportunities for the capital that flow from this work.
For more information the Mayor’s of London’s Green Procurement Code, or the accredited training course for procurement professionals, please contact Tina Perfrement on 020 76651536 or email tperfrement@londonremade.com